The Hindu Business Line : CAS disappoints consumers, says VOICE study

New Delhi, Sept. 18 More than two thirds of television consumers prefer the older cable system over the conditional access system introduced by the Government in areas of New Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai on January 1.

VOICE study

A survey conducted by consumer action group, Voluntary Organisation in Interest of Consumer Education (VOICE), says 70 per cent of consumers prefer the earlier un-addressed cable system. “The Government may have to consider holding back CAS till policy-makers figure out how to ensure proper monitoring, which impacts billing, reception quality and so on. There are also related issues, such as complain redress and access to MSOs - the multi-system operators who supply feed to the cable operators - which are yet to be addressed by the Government regulatory authority,” said the VOICE Executive Director, Mr Bejon Misra.

However, some industry players are surprised at the conclusions, and point out that VOICE was a part of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) appointed task force which recommended that CAS be extended to 55 cities.

Unhappy lot

According to the study, more than half the consumers feel they are spending more, and more than a third are unauthorised subscribers, tapping pirated signals. The survey which interviewed a 1,000 subscribers in Delhi, also says 35 per cent are unhappy with the complaint redress system, 40 per cent admit that the reception under the new system is not any better, and 35 per cent say their set-top boxes are defective.

The India TV CEO, Mr Chintamani Rao, however, said CAS is good news or bad news depending on whether you are free-to-air or a pay-channel. Mr A. Mohan, Executive V-P, Essel Corporate, agreed, and said CAS is in fact a success.

“Consumers can finally exercise their ability to choose what they want to see and if the penetration of set top boxes has only been up to 40-45 per cent, its because they are happy with the free-to-air channels and are saving on their monthly bills,” he said.

More Stories on : Radio/TV | Marketing Research

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page